"Bennett referred to Longton as Longshaw in his Five Town Novels.
It is the least mentioned of the Pottery towns in his Five Town novels .
Bennett compared the conurbation as being akin to Hell. Pictures of the
area during its industrial growth defy belief with smoke pouring from a
multitude of chimneys in amongst bottle ovens of various shapes and
sizes. The great concentration of these ovens and the situation of
Longton being in a slight hollow, made it the most polluted of all the
pottery towns."
Arnold Bennett | Arnold Bennett's
Longton

Anchor Works, Longton - corner of Sutherland
Road and Anchor Roadthe body of the bottle kilns is in the
range buildings with just the chimney showing

Longton
is the newest of the six towns and was originally laid out as an
agricultural village in the thirteenth century.

In 1759 the main road from Derby to
Newcastle, through Uttoxeter, was built which gave the town of
Longton a boost when the pottery industry began to appear in the
town. Small numerous pot works gave the new town a distinctive
irregular appearance with pot banks lining the main streets
jumbled in and around houses of the workers employed in the
ceramic industry.

Longton was at the end of a lane
which ran from Tunstall to a village at the end of the lane, hence
Longton was known as Lane End, and colloquially as 'Neck End'.

Until the last
decade of the 18thC it was known only for its coal mines and iron
works but from the 19thC it developed into a major centre for the
production of bone china.

Lord of the
Manor - The Duke of
Sutherland and John E Heathcote, Esq, own a great part of the land in
both liberties, and the latter is lord of the manor, and owner of
Longton Hall

"LANE END, a populous and thriving
market-town, and with LONGTON, forms an extensive township, situated
five miles south-east of Newcastle,, at the southern extremity of the
Potteries, and has risen in a few years by the almost magical influence
of a prosperous manufacture to a respectable degree of opulence.
By the parliamentary returns for 1821, the township of Lane End and
Longton contained 7,100 inhabitants, but a census taken by the Rev. Mr.
Temple, in 1826, the population had increased to 8,500 persons."1828 journal

"As early as 1756, a manufactory
of English porcelain was established here, and ware of great lightness
and beauty was produced, fully equaling that for which Chelsea was
famous. It will thus be seen that Longton deserves to rank with Burslem
as one of the historic towns of the Potteries. Longton, which is
situated in the extreme south of the district, is connected by the Stoke
and Derby branch of the North Staffordshire Railway with the great trunk
lines of England, and so enjoys excellent facilities for transport
purposes."1893 journal

Dates in the
history of Longton

1789
- Longton's Times
Square laid out.

1811
- Population - Longton: 4930

1844
- Longton's first Town Hall built, soon replaced in 1863.

1865
- Longton created a borough.

1863
- Longton Town Hall replaced, by the present building
in Times Square.

The canal from Manchester and
Liverpool to London passes within two miles of this town, and a
small rivulet runs through it, upon which are several flint
mills.

LANE END and LONGTON are two
townships, forming a populous and thriving market town, in the
parish of Stoke; situate at the southern extremity of the
Potteries, four miles south east from Newcastle, on the road
between that town and Uttoxeter. This place has risen to
opulence and importance, within a comparatively few years, by
the prosperous manufactures which distinguish this district.

The town is in the parish and
parliamentary borough of Stoke-upon-Trent. Including its
southern suburbs in Blurton and Normacott.

A
walk around Longton cemetery- Following a competition in 1872 for the design of the
lay-out, Longton Cemetery opened in 1877 and covers approximately
7.4 hectares (about 21 acres). It has been extended a total
of four times.

Normacot Road, Longton
- Normacot Road was once an important thoroughfare from Normacot
to Longton Town. Many of the houses and works were demolished
between the 1930's and the 1970's and the opening of the A50
road in 1997 meant that the end of Normacot Road was sealed off
- so now it is a road to nowhere.

Bridle Path, Dresden -
When the Longton Freehold Land Society bought the land a
bridle path leading from Longton to Trentham ran across the
land. This was incorporated into the building plan as a
pedestrian road between Belgrave Road and Ricardo Street.
Following this bridle path will take us on a walk through the
history of British social reform politics.

Of the older pottery firms like
Turner or Hilditch, only one, Aynsley survives.